I'll list the ones I've tried that have worked almost immediately without having to dial in different with my Vario. I use a Gaggia Classic for espresso machine. These gave me no problems: Café Fresco Ambrosia, Metropolis Redline, Barrington Gold, Redbird (90% of the time).I'm thinking of trying Sermon(Vivace??). At $20 for 12 oz., would love to know what people think about the "forgiveability" of that blend with home machines. Thanks!

Well, its 100% normal, and expected, to have to change the grind setting for a new bag of coffee, same blend or different blend. Now, if you use the same dose all the time, and the same basket, the changes will be slight.

But, its not a bad sign that you need to dial in. Its just needs to be done. Like I said, if you keep the dose the same for every coffee(which, isn't ideal, but can work out most of the time), and most coffees you buy are roasted to similar levels, than you might only need slight tweaks. But, the whole point, is extracting the goodness, from the coffee at hand. If that means using settings that are different from what you used last week, then thats what you need to do.

A coffee is not forgiving if it works with the settings you were using with your last bag of coffee, it just means you got lucky and chose a similar coffee/roast level.

A coffee is forgiving if, once you get the flow correct, you don't need to wildly change the dose, and subsequently, the grind setting, to find the flavors you want. This is 100% coffee dependent, and will change each time.

I think your mentioning Sermon espresso, from Verve? Havent had it in a while. They have two espresso blends, streetlevel, and sermon. Sermon will probably be the easier of the two to pull. Based on the flavors they're describing, and the coffees used in the blend, it should be the easier of the two. But, I havent had Verve in a while, idk what they're doing lately, or how light/dark they're roasting.

Generally, and this is totally open to change, but generally, the blends which favor bass note flavors.. Dark Chocolate, Cocoa, Spices, Nuts, Caramels, Stone fruits.. Are on the easier side of dialing in. Blends/Single origins which are on the brighter side, featuring more up front fruits, citrus, florals, tea notes.. Those are generally on the trickier side to pull. And this is because of roast level. Espresso is a very demanding process.. Its Hell. Its the most hardcore environment coffee can withstand, and still produce something beautiful. And when the coffee is roasted lighter, and those more aggressive origin notes are up front and vivid in the bean, they are multiplied in the espresso. Not all coffees can make espresso, no matter what you do. Some coffees can be finessed into producing some good shots, but if you're not a fan of, or not used to bright espresso, even after its been dialed in by a skilled hand, you might still think its terrible. And thats OK, there is plenty of debate right now whether or not that is the way espresso should be heading. be your own judge, find your own flavors.

I made the mistake of setting my Vario to 12 seconds because the Velton's I had on hand dosed 18g in 12 seconds. My dangerous assumption was all coffees would grind 18g in 12 seconds. For MONTHS I did this and felt like Espresso wasn't something that worked every time. I would always hit the brew switch and pray it would work and had decent results half the time. I got my VST basket the same time I got my Mazzer and people said the VST was no good unless you had a weighed dose so I removed the hopper and began dosing only 18g for every shot. What a difference! I consistently make good Espresso now because the variability of the dose is gone. Before my doses would vary from 14-20g (yikes) and now they are consistently 18g. This means as long as I figure out the right grind and keep everything else the same, I can just throw 18g in my hopper and grind until empty and just follow my usual regimen.

When my best friend is over we like to experiment with everything (dose, grind, roast, blend, etc.) and it's interesting when I put my Mazzer against my Vario. The Vario is a champ if you weigh your dose or atleast make sure the time and grind match the right dose.

This is how I do it with my Vario. I put in a 1/4 cup of beans in the doser & grind for 15 seconds. If I do more than a 1/4 cup, it is too much & chokes in my Classic. I know sounds super amateurish, but I don't have a scale & this system has always worked for me in the last 10+ years.

15-17 grams depending on the mood I want for the shot. I'm also getting the hand of changing the grind setting especially I change a bag of coffee at least every month. And you're right Jmanespresso, "the whole point is extracting the goodness, from the coffee at hand".

Did you know...? Dark roast coffees actually have less caffeine than lighter roasts due to the fact that the process of roasting burns off caffeine.www.coffeeloversmag.com/theMagazine

Recently I got my prefect espresso recipe from www.sweetmarias.com/blending.php , there are many other as well you can refer them. I have tried only few of them and the classical Espresso blend with 15% Robusta , 70% Brazil and 15% Central America is my favorite.

I too give a thumbs up for Red Bird's espresso blend. I think it's the easiest to dial in, and most consistent espresso blend I've ever had. I buy by the 5 pound bag and freeze in 3/4 pound lots. The last shot is generally as good as the first. Doesn't hurt it's also a great deal online.

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